Getting Out
by Lily7
Summary: *UPDATED* Rachel tries to leave the hospital, and Brian asks Lu out for a date!!READ AND REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PLEASE!!
1. Marc's Suspicions

Disclaimer: I do not own the SM characters in this story; they belong to the writers, and to Lifetime. Rachel Connelly however is a fictional character I made up for this story. She isn't a character on the show.  
  
"Hey Marc." "Oh hey Rachel." Marc stared at the gorgeous brown haired, blue-eyed Rachel Connelly. Marc couldn't believe his luck; he got to sit next to the prettiest girl in school during Geometry class. Class started as usual and it was so boring. Marc's stomach growled and he was very relieved that lunch was next. "Hey Marc, do you want to sit by me at lunch?" Rachel looked at him straight in the eye. Marc could barely talk, "Yeah sure." Rachel and Marc started off to lunch, and Marc noticed that Rachel was limping a little. "What happened?" Marc asked her. "Oh, just a dance injury, I just twisted my ankle that's all." Rachel told him not looking worried about it. "You know, you could come with me after school to my Mom's clinic, she's a great doctor, and you act like it hurts." Rachel suddenly looked scared "Oh Marc, it's really nothing, and I have dance practice after school anyways." "Okay." Marc and Rachel eat lunch, and Marc helped Rachel to Biology as he hurried off to get to English.  
  
He couldn't help feeling concerned as she hobbled over to her desk. "Gosh that should be wrapped, or she should have crutches or something." Marc thought to himself. His day continued on and he went to Lu's clinic after school. He tried and tried to do his homework, but he couldn't get his mind off Rachel. How in the world could she dance with that ankle? He found himself staring at this one awful Geometry question and decided he would give Rachel a buzz and see if she could help. Plus he just wanted to hear the sound of her voice, and ask about her ankle. He found the phone book in his Mom's office and looked up her name "Connelly, Connelly, Connelly." No Connelly was listed on the street that he knew Rachel lived on. "Mom, Mom can you come here a minute?" Marc called to Lu. "Yeah sure honey, just a sec." Lu came into the room, "what is it?" "Well, I was hoping that you know with your medical connections that you could find a phone number for me?" Marc looked pleadingly at Lu. "Would this happen to be a girl's number?" Lu asked Marc. "Yeah, but it's for homework." She gave Marc a disbelieving look. "Oh sure, uh huh, whatever you say Marc." "MOM!" "Ok, Ok, what is the name of the girl?" "Rachel Connelly, and she lives on White Dove Lane." "Ok, just hold on one sec, and then I will ask Lana to find the number for you." "Thanks, Mom you're the best." "You had better believe it kid." "Here Lu, here is the Connelly's phone number." Lana handed Lu the number. Lu teased Marc a little more and then finally gave him the number. Marc blushed and asked if he could be alone while he talked to Rachel. "Uhh I don't think so." Lu replied smiling. "Please Mom." Marc continued to beg. "What's it worth to you?" Lu teased. "Alright, Alright, I will leave, but you owe me big guy." "Thanks Mom."  
  
Marc dialed Rachel's' number. A man picked up. "Yeah what do you want?" a gruff sounding voice answered. Marc suddenly got nervous, "I uh, uh, I wanted to talk to Rachel." He squeaked out. The man was furious at his request. "Why do you want to talk to her? And how did you get this number? Don't call it again, EVER, EVER EVER AGAIN!!" The man roared. Marc stopped he got quiet he heard Rachel in the background. "Dad, Dad, stop it, who is it? Let me talk to them, please Dad please." "Shut up you little whore!" He screamed and with that he hung up the phone on a now shaking Marc. Lu walked back in, and looked at Marc with concern. "What's wrong Marc, what happened?" Lu looked him straight in the eye. "Nuh, Nuh, Nothing." He stammered out. "Sit down." Lu said sharply. "Marc Delgado, I know you are lying, so out with it, what happened?" Marc started to cry a little. "Mom, it was awful, I think her Dad answered the phone and he was yelling and cursing, especially about Rachel, and I heard her in the background screaming." Lu looked pale, "Are you sure Marc, and are you positive he was yelling at her?" "Yeah Mom, I am." "What should I do?" "Marc is this the girl that you said hurt her ankle?" "Yeah she said she hurt it dancing." "Ok well, I think we should get her in here, so I can talk to her, but we can't let her know that was you who called, because she will get scared, and she won't tell us the truth. She probably wouldn't even come in here. So just get her here tomorrow and we will figure something out." Marc started to look a little better, but then a thought occurred to him. "Mom, you don't I mean I hope, does he hit her?" "I don't know Marc, it sounds pretty bad. We will just have to worry about that, when we find out the truth." 


	2. Rachel's Lie

The next morning..  
  
"Marc, it's time to get up." Lu called to Marc. Marc lazily walked out of his room. "I have to leave early today Marc, but please don't forget to talk to Rachel, and do whatever you have to do to get her to the clinic. Drag her by her hair if you have to, wait you wouldn't do that, cause then what would you have to gaze at?" Lu lovingly punched Marc in the shoulder. "Cut it out Mom." "Ok Marc, but I am dead serious get her to the clinic." "I will Mom, don't worry." "Bye honey." Lu kissed him on the cheek and left. Marc left for school and hurried to find Rachel. He found her by her locker, and her ankle looked like it had swelled up a lot over night. He also noticed she was touching her shoulder like it hurt. "Here goes nothing." Marc thought to himself.  
  
"I'm fine Marc, really, I'll be ok, and I don't need your Mom to help me." Rachel's blue eyes sparked with defiance as Marc insisted that she go see Lu for her ankle. "Rache, it looks worse today, all black and blue, and stuff, shouldn't you get it wrapped or something and it probably isn't just twisted it's probably broken. Just come with me, my Mom is the best doctor in all of Philly, and she's really nice. I promise you will be okay, and I will be with you. So will you please come with me after school to her clinic?" Marc really began to lay it on thick. "Ok fine Marc, I'll do it so you will stop bugging me about it." "Great, I'll come to your 6th hour class and we can walk there together, if you can walk." Rachel rolled her eyes and pushed her long brown hair to one side. "Okay Marc I'll see you then."  
  
At the clinic...  
  
"Okay Kellie, I want you to come back if that fever gets any higher ok?" Lu tells her young patient. "Okay Lu." She replied. Lu walked her patient out of the clinic and saw Marc supporting a young girl who is limping badly. "Hey Mom, this is Rachel Connelly, she hurt her ankle dancing." "Hi Rachel, I'm Dr. Delgado, but you can call me Lu. That ankle looks pretty bad, let's get you into a room and we will see what we can do to fix it." "Thanks Lu, but I don't think its all that bad, just a twisted ankle from dancing on point. It happens a lot and now that I think of it, I should really get home, so I will let you get back to more important patients." Rachel suddenly broke free of Marc's grasp and attempted to walk towards the door, but hobbling she doesn't get very far. Marc looked shocked, "Rachel you promised you would let my Mom look at you, she's really good at what she does, and it will only make you feel better, not worse." Fighting off the pain her throbbing ankle was giving her Rachel said to Lu and Marc "Really guys, I'm fine, it doesn't even hurt anymore, I will ice my ankle tonight, stay off it, you know wrap it, all of that, I'm just fine." "Maybe you are honey, but it couldn't hurt to just have me look at it could it, and Marc can stay with you if that would make you feel better." Lu said in a reassuring voice, which almost made it impossible for Rachel to argue with. Rachel did desperately want to argue, but she tried to walk again and gasped out in pain. Lu took a few steps towards Rachel, and led her away from the door. "Okay, Okay, sweetie c'mon let's go." Lu said in a very calming voice. Lu had dealt with difficult and scared patients before and she knew just how to ease Rachel's fears. Marc helped Rachel to an exam room and up on the table. Lu left the room to get a chart for Rachel and tells her she will be right back. Rachel continued to look a little frightened. "What's the matter Rachel, are you scared of doctors or something?" Marc questioned her. Rachel started to laugh, and her face went back to normal. "Oh no, she's really nice, Marc, you are so lucky." "Yep, I am." "Ok hon, I'm going to examine your ankle, just tell me when it hurts, and where exactly it hurts." Lu touched it gingerly and tried to move it to the side. "Oww, yeah that hurts really bad." Marc looked at Rachel with concern, "I knew it hurt badly, I should have made you come here yesterday." Marc muttered under his breath. "It's ok Marc, I'm fine." "Ok Rache, let's go get an x-ray of that ankle, and we will know what we are dealing with." "Oh alright." Rachel reluctantly agreed. Lu pats Rachel on her right shoulder and helps her down but as she does so she notices Rachel winced when she touched her. Lu can't help but think that she only barely touched her. "Sweetie, is your shoulder hurt also? Do you have any other injuries?" "Oh, my shoulder that, ummm, I umm fell when I was turning, being on point shoes makes falls much worse." Lu doesn't look like she buys her story. "Ok well I think we should get a full body x-ray to know where you are exactly hurt so we can treat it. Would that be ok with you?" "Well, uhh, I don't think I can afford all of this so I'll just take the one ankle x-ray and that will be enough for me, it's really nice of you to be so concerned, but I don't need all of this." "Well you are in luck, this is a free clinic and everything is on the house, the tests, the exam, you don't have to pay for any of it." "That's great Lu, but uhh, I have to get home to uhh do my homework, and my Dad would be so mad if I was late, so please can I just get my ankle x-rayed and taken care of, and then I could go home?" "Alright sweetie, but I cross my heart a full body x-ray won't take long, so I'm adding it to your workup, so let's get you down there right now." Lu tells Rachel very firmly. "Rachel's normally lit up face had turned ghostly white, and she got goose bumps. She started to mumble things out loud, "you won't understand, I fall a lot, dancing is rough, it's hard, I'm not good, the wood floor is hard." "Rachel, are you ok?" Lu said as she helped her walk down to x-ray. Rachel's cheery disposition returned and she smiled at Lu and Marc. "Oh yeah, I was just saying that dancing is hard, and injuries are inevitable. "Whatever." said a disbelieving Lu. Marc had remained silent this whole time just staring at Rachel's ankle. They reached x-ray and as Lu told the technician that she wanted a full body x-ray. Marc finally spoke, "are you sure Mom that this isn't overkill?' "Yeah Marc, something is going on with her, and I don't know what it is, but I am going to find out. She is lying and I know it." 


	3. Suspicions Confirmed

Later that day.  
  
"Hey Lu, these are Rachel Connelly's x-rays they just came up." "Thanks Lana." Lu is astounded when she puts Rachel's x-rays on her bright light board. "Oh my god." Lu whispered to herself. "What in the world?" Lu makes a startling discovery when she finds out that Rachel's right ankle is broken in three places, her shoulder bone disconnected, and what looks like at least 2 broken ribs, and a couple of small fractures, and Lu sees what looks like a previously broken nose that didn't heal quite right. "No one gets hurt this much in dance, and no one falls down this much either." "Lana, Lana, get in here!" Lana rushes in, "what is it baby?" "Lana, will you please check and see if Rachel has any medical records either here at Ritten, or anywhere else, it's really urgent." "Sure thing." About ten minutes later Lana returns with a printout. "Here, this is from County Hospital, looks like Rachel was seen there a few times." "Thanks so much Lana, this is exactly what I thought."  
  
Lu reviewed the records Lana had brought her, and most of them said the same thing. At County Hospital, Rachel was seen by an ER doc who suspected abuse. He had convinced her to talk to the police after being brought in with a broken nose. She had admitted everything to the doctor, but when the police came she admitted nothing. A child psychiatrist and a social worker had also seen her and she said the same thing every time that she was hurt in dance. Lu read these charts and decided to call this ER doc over at County and speak with him. It looked like that every time she was brought in he was called to her case because of his familiarity with it.  
  
Lu dialed the number, "Hi, this is Dr. Lu Delgado over at Rittenhouse, may I speak with a Dr. Hunkler?" "Hold on please." The receptionist told Lu. A few minutes later a young man answered. "Yes, this is Brian Hunkler how may I help you?" "Yes Hi, Doctor, my name is Dr. Lu Delgado and I work at Rittenhouse Women's Health Center and I have a few questions about a patient you have treated several times named Rachel Connelly." "Aww yes, Rachel." "How are you familiar with her case?" The doctor asked her. "I'm not, I'm just beginning to pull together this puzzle, my son has befriended her, and the two of us have suspected abuse. Right now she has a pretty badly broken ankle, and I ran an x-ray and discovered all of the previous abuse and some bad injuries that haven't been treated. I was wondering if you could tell me about your experiences with her and with her Father?" "Well, doctor." Lu stopped him. "Please call me Lu." The doctor chuckled, "okay Lu, will you please call me Brian." Lu smiled to herself. "Sure." "Well, as I was saying, I have seen Rachel here about 5 or 6 times within the period of a year and a half. From what I have gathered Rachel's mother died a year and a half ago, and the Father has completely lost it since then. He has become a brutal alcoholic, not to mention a horrible provider, and an abuser. Rachel trusted me the first time to tell me of the abuse and her tragic situation, but however when I mentioned turning her over to Social Services and reporting the abuse to the police, she just clammed up. She wouldn't tell me anything more. Every time she came to the ER, I repeatedly tried to reach her, and help her. She was always very polite but declined the offers. She denies everything, and I don't know what to do anymore." Lu couldn't believe her ears. "Well if I wasn't a doctor, and Rachel was just some girl that Marc had me meet, I don't think I would've suspected abuse." She told him. "She hides it quite well, she keeps the house relatively tidy, and she has two part time jobs to support herself on." He told her. "Poor Rachel." Lu quietly said. "Yes it is a very sad situation, that is hard to change." "Well, I'm going to try and help, can I count on your support?" "Of course Lu, I would do anything to help her, and I worry about her a lot." "Thanks Brian, you seem like a nice guy." "No thank you Lu, I am relieved to know that Rachel is at least alive." "Bye Brian, I'll be in touch." "Bye Lu."  
  
Lu continued on with her day and went home early so she could speak with Marc. She told him everything that Brian had told her, and about her x- ray. Marc was close to tears. "Mom, we just have to help her, we have to." "I know honey, but these things can be tricky." "Isn't there something you can do, I mean call the police, just go and take her from that awful place and her father?" "I wish I could do that, but it is complicated. We have to have Social Services intervene, and she has to admit the abuse herself. Plus she doesn't want to leave her dad, she still loves him I imagine." "How can she love him when he is such a bastard to her?' "I know, I know baby, but all you can do for her is to be a good friend and to tell me if she gets any serious injuries or if she admits anything to you." "I will Mom, I will, I'm gonna watch her like a hawk." "Ok, but you should go to bed now, get some sleep." "Mom, I'm almost fifteen." "Yeah well, I don't care, like I have said before I can still kick your butt." Marc groaned and went to sleep.  
  
Lu couldn't sleep very well and tried to brainstorm ideas on how she could help Rachel, she knew her first step was to enlist the help of her partner and her friends, Lana and Peter. Also she would need to conference with Brian and anybody else at County who was familiar with her case. Lu wasn't sure on what she was going to say to Rachel or how she would confront her with the information. "She had better come back to get her x-ray results." Lu muttered to herself, as she drifted off to sleep.  
  
Thanks for reading Chapter three, I hope you are enjoying my story. Please review and leave suggestions.  
  
~*Val*~ 


	4. Trust Your Instincts

Disclaimer: Again I repeat I don't own Strong Medicine wow that would be cool if I did. But I do own this plot and Brian and Rachel. READ AND REVIEW and my apologies for taking so long to update!  
  
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The next day Lu went to work with a problem on her mind. She sent Marc off to school and drove to the clinic. She arrived at 8:00. She saw Dana getting a cup of coffee and took the chance to talk with her.  
  
"Dana if you get a chance I need to consult with you on a patient." Lu asked Dana. "Sure Lu, I don't have anyone scheduled from 9 to 10 can you do it then?" Lu turned to Lana. "Yeah kid your schedule is clear from 9:30 to 10:00." "Ok Dana can you come to my office at 9:30?" "I'll be there."  
  
"Here Lu, Jenny is your next patient." Lana handed Lu a chart. Lu found Jenny in the waiting room and they walk into exam three.  
  
At 9:30.  
  
"Knock knock." "Come in. Hey Dana." "Hey Lu." Dana sits down and Lu starts to explain. "I have this patient Rachel Connelly she is Marc's age and his friend. She came in for a broken ankle but I suspected she had other injuries so I got a full body X-ray. I found out that my suspicions were correct and she has previous injuries. I then checked her medical records and she has been to the county ER at least 3 times with injuries. I called the doc over there who is familiar with her case and he says once she admitted the abuse but then she said it wasn't true and she had been lying. I don't know how to help her Dana." "Wow Lu, that is some situation." "What do you think I should do?" Dana answered her quickly without thinking. "Trust your instincts." Lu looked at Dana as if she were going to finish her thoughts. "That's it?" "Yep." "Trust my instincts I thought you would give me a little more of the Dana wisdom than three words." "Lu I can't tell you how to handle a difficult situation like this. I mean you can't call Social Services because they can't do anything if she won't admit to the abuse. You are going to have to improve the quality of your patient's life the best you can. If you can't do anything about this right now then just be the best doctor you can be to her. Treat her injuries and gain her trust, you will know when the time is right to take action." Lu looked pleasantly surprised at the wisdom of her partner. "You're right Dana, I should just take this one step at a time." "See I knew you would see it my way." Dana laughed and left the office.  
  
Lu continued on with her day including another call to Brian. He convinced her also to just gain Rachel's trust as he did and maybe this time get a witness like Marc or tape record the confession. He also said he would be happy to meet with her to discuss anything else she wanted to. They decided to meet tomorrow at lunchtime.  
  
~Cut to Marc's Math Class~  
  
Marc walked into third period Math and looked for Rachel he hadn't seen her at her locker and he wanted to talk to her and convince her to come back to the clinic. He looked around for her and saw her nowhere. She wasn't in her seat or talking to her best friend Angie. He walked up to Angie and started talking to her. "Hey Angie where's Rachel today?" "I have no idea Marc I'm a little worried because we have a major dance rehearsal today and she wouldn't miss it for anything in the whole world." Marc looked stunned and slowly walked away from Angie. "Oh no." He thought to himself this is not good at all. All during Math he couldn't stop thinking about Rachel. What if something had happened to her what if her dad beat her so much last night. What if she was hurt really bad or what if she was just upset and crying. He told himself to forget it, maybe she was just sick or something. All throughout the day this horrible feeling got worse and worse. When lunchtime came he decided he would call Rachel. He had her phone number memorized and called her from the school pay phone. It rang and rang and rang no answer. This continued to frighten Marc so he finally dialed the clinic's number.  
  
"RWHC this is Lana speaking how can I help you?" "Lana it's Marc is my mom there?" "Hey kid I think she is in her office I'll transfer you hold on." Lana transferred the call to Lu's office. "Ring ring" "Lu Delgado" "Mom, it's me I'm really really worried about Rachel." "Marc what's wrong you sound awful?" Lu had a feeling by his voice it wasn't good. "She's not at school today Mom. She didn't show up and I talked to her best friend and she doesn't know what's wrong and they have a major dance rehearsal and I have a bad feeling and Mom what if something is terribly wrong?" Marc was talking a mile a minute. "Calm down Marc." But this advice was better said than done because Lu felt worried too and Dana's advice hung over her head. "Trust your instincts" she heard it over and over again. "Okay Marc I'm going over there I don't have a good feeling either." "Should I go with you?" "No stay in school and come to the clinic after school." "But Mom, I want to." Lu cut him off. "Marc stay at school." Lu said firmly. "Ok Mom." He not so willingly agreed. "Bye Marc I love you and you did the right thing." "Bye." Marc hung up the phone and felt awful.  
  
Back at the clinic.  
  
"Lana I have to make a house call hold down the fort while I'm gone." "But girl you've got patients." "They have to wait this is important." "Well ok but I don't want to be the one to have to tell 'em." Lana said under her breath.  
  
Lu got in her Pacer and headed towards White Dove Lane afraid of what she would find.  
  
That's all for Chapter four! You all know where that review button is so click it!!  
  
~*Val*~ 


	5. Abuse Victim

Disclaimer: Yeah I just borrowed Strong Medicine characters for this story but I made up Rachel and Brian they aren't characters on the show. Oh and don't forget to press that button that says "Leave a Review" you never know what could happen if you did!!! JK ( Enjoy Chapter 5!!  
  
Lu drove on to White Dove Lane and checked the address she had taken with her. She found it and looked at the house. "Looked relatively normal," she thought to herself. The lawn looked like it needed to be cut and the house could use a new paint job, but other than that it looked fine. She noticed there was no car in the driveway and breathed a sigh of relief, "hopefully this means the bastard isn't home." Lu said softly. She parked her car and got out. She was very afraid of what she would find in the house.  
  
She walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. No answer. She knocked, and no answer. She looked in the window and saw Rachel lying on the couch she looked like she was in a lot of pain. She tried the doorknob, but it was locked. Thinking quickly, Lu took a hairpin out of her hair and tried to jimmy the lock. She finally succeeded.  
  
"Oh my god Rachel what has he done to you?" Rachel's appearance was shocking. She had two black eyes, what looked like a broken jaw, her shirt was torn and she was holding her side like her ribs were broken. She could hardly talk because of her jaw. "Lu, help me." "Rachel, we're going to the hospital now." "Can you walk?" "No" "I'll try and carry you ok?" Lu tried and finally was able to pick up the girl trying hard not to hurt her any more.  
  
"Rachel stay with me ok? We' re going to be there really soon. You're going to be alright." Lu drove faster than she had ever driven in her life and made it to the hospital in record time.  
  
She pulled into the ambulance bay and ran inside. "I need a gurney!" With help of Nick and others Lu got Rachel inside. "15 year old female, abuse victim, broken jaw, trauma to the face, maybe head, possible broken ribs, and GOD knows what else!" Lu was visibly shaken by Rachel's condition. Nick took control of the situation. "Let's get a head CT, X-ray of the face, jaw, chest, arms, and legs." Get her started on a line normal saline. I want a pulse and a BP stat." Lu nodded in agreement and added that she wanted stitches to the large gash she didn't notice on her stomach, which was now visible. Her mind also thought of something else. "Rachel did he hurt you in any other way? Did he." Lu was having trouble getting out the awful word. "Did he rape you?" Nick finished her sentence. Rachel was traumatized but still conscious. "No he didn't do that." "Ok sweetie we're going to take care of you don't worry." Lu told her. "Thank you." She choked out. An hour later Rachel was in her room and Marc was sitting in a chair next to her. Lu walked into the room, and sat next to Marc. "She finally fell asleep." He told her. "Good that's good she needs the rest."  
  
"Mom, what's going to happen to her? I mean she is not going back to live in that house is she?" "No honey I will call a social worker who is going to help her find another place to live and to press charges against her jerk of a dad." Just then Rachel awoke she had heard what Lu had said. "He isn't a jerk, he's a good dad he just needs to stop drinking." Rachel said in an upset tone, she was quickly getting madder and madder. "Shh, it's ok sweetie just go back to sleep." Lu told her. She motioned for Marc to follow her out of the room.  
  
"Mom, you are not going to listen to her are you?" "Not a chance, I'm calling Brian to come and talk to her. I'm also calling that social worker now and the Police." "Are you sure that Rachel wants the police involved?" "She doesn't have a choice Marc I am bound by law to call them in a situation like this. Why don't you go sit with her while I make these phone calls." "Ok."  
  
"Yes hi, this is Dr. Luisa Delgado calling from Rittenhouse I'd like to speak with Dr. Brian Hunkler please." "Hold on please." A receptionist answered. "Hello this is Dr. Hunkler." "Brian, hi it's Lu." "Oh hey Lu." "I'm so sorry Brian about missing our lunch appointment but I had a good reason to. Rachel has just been admitted from severe injuries due to the abuse." "Oh my god is she alright?" "She has a broken jaw, three broken ribs, bruises all over her, among with other things. However she still won't admit the abuse or blame her father. I was hoping you would come down and try and talk to her." "Of course I will Lu I am looking forward to meeting you." "It's not me you should be worrying about." "I know, I'll be there as soon as I can." "Ok thanks Brian." "No problem, bye." "Bye." After Lu hung up she paged the social worker and called the police.  
  
"I hope Brian can talk some sense into her." Lu muttered to herself.  
  
Will Brian be able to convince Rachel? What will happen to her?? Are Brian and Lu headed for love?? You will find out all of this and more in Chapter 6 of "Getting Out" Stay tuned and please leave reviews!!!  
  
Ha Ha!! I had too much fun with that! PLEASE PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! THANKS! (  
  
~*Val*~ 


	6. Defiance

Hey readers!! Sorry it has been forever that this has been updated. But I think it was well worth it! ENJOY AND PLEASE REVIEW!!  
  
After Lu made this phone call, she rushed back to see how Rachel was doing. She had made it just in time. Rachel was getting dressed trying to rip out her IV, while Marc was attempting to try and stop her. "Oh my god Rachel what are you doing?" Lu asked her. "I'm leaving Lu, this is ridiculous, I'm fine and I don't want to leave my Dad, he needs me." Rachel said crying. "Sit down honey, and just calm down. No one is forcing you to do anything. You need to stay here and get this pain medication to help you. You are in way too much pain to leave, and you should get some rest. Rachel, you are going to have to stay here, because only a legal guardian can sign you out. It's best for you to do this willingly ok? So just lay back down, and I promise everything will go at your pace." Lu gave Rachel a mouthful before she could object.  
  
Still quite upset and defiant she allowed Marc and Lu to guide her back to her bed. Also Lu was able to fix her IV, which hadn't been successfully pulled out yet. Lu left Marc to get a nurse to give Rachel a sleeping sedative because of her anxiousness. Marc was talking to Rachel about school when Lu and the nurse returned. "Rache, I want the nurse to give you something to sleep ok, would that be alright with you?" Still crying, Rachel nodded in agreement. "Ok hon, this is going to go in your IV, and you will be able to get some rest. Marc and I won't leave you and we will be here when you wake up."  
  
Rachel soon fell asleep and Lu and Marc went to go talk in the hallway. "Mom this isn't going well, how are we going to convince her to stay or even leave her Dad?" "Marc, we have to, I don't want her to talk to a social worker yet, and she might try to leave again." Marc nodded in agreement. "I called that Doc over at County and I have a feeling he might be of some help." "Ok." Marc said still discouraged. "Don't worry Marc, I deal with these kind of things every day and the people who will help her are professionals and this will all turn out to be just fine, you'll see." "I'm going back in there Mom." "Okay honey I have to be down at the clinic, but Rachel won't be awake for hours, so I'll be back." With that Lu left Marc alone with the sleeping Rachel.  
  
Down in the clinic, Brian had arrived and was waiting in Lu's office. Lu filled him on what had happened and they started to discuss options. "I know I can get through to her Lu, she trusted me before, and we seemed to connect on a level I can't explain." Brian told Lu. "I hope so, Brian, you didn't see her before." "You mean trying to rip out her IV, Lu she left AMA three times in my ER. Even behind our backs, I'm amazed you got her to calm down." "She's not as strong anymore, I think she is realizing she can't live like this." "Well that's good to hear. I'd like to go talk to her." "I'm afraid that will have to wait because I gave her a sedative to help her sleep." "I can wait. I'll just sit here in your office, and you can tell me when she wakes up." "You are just going to sit here in my messy office while I go take care of patients?" "Yeah is there something wrong with that, I'd like to see the place where this brilliant doctor works, and look at all of your drawings that your grateful patients have given you. Maybe if I stay here long enough you won't object to me when I ask you out for dinner." Lu smiled at the compliment and rolled her eyes. "Alright you can stay and I'll THINK about dinner, but I got to go play doctor now." "Ok go about your business and I'll be right here." Brian smiled at her.  
  
Lu laughed to herself as she went into Exam 4 where a patient was waiting for her.  
  
Later on.. Lu went up to Rachel's room to see if she was awake yet. She was and her and Marc were talking while she was eating some dinner they had brought her. "Hey Rache, feeling any better?" "Yes, Lu I'm sorry about before, I guess I was just upset." "Don't worry about it. But Rache someone is here to see you." "Who?" "Dr. Brian Hunkler, do you remember who that is?" Rachel looked uncomfortable at the mention of his name. "Yes I know who that is." "Can he come up?" "I guess so because if I say no, he probably will anyways, he's like you Lu, he doesn't take no for an answer." Lu smiled and went to get Brian.  
  
She found him in her office, sitting in her chair, with his feet on the desk just enjoying himself. "Oh my god, you must be so bored." "On the contrary Lu, I enjoy seeing where the beautiful Luisa sits everyday and looking at her eclectic office accessories." "Ok that's enough Prince Brian Charming, Rachel has agreed to see you." "Great, but I will only go and see her on one occasion." "What would that be?" Lu asked slightly annoyed. "If you agree to go out to dinner with me tonight, I looked at your schedule, you are free, and Marc can stay with Rachel, and we'll pick him up when we're done." "You drive a hard bargain Dr. Hunckler." "Well." "Alright, but not too long, Marc needs to get home." "Great, let's go talk to Rachel."  
  
How will the talk with Brian go? What is his solution? Will Lu and Brian have a good time? Will Rachel ever leave her father??  
  
You will all just have to wait and see in Chapter 7 of Getting Out!  
  
Stay tuned and please don't forget to Review!!  
  
~*Val*~ 


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